


She Makes Everything Warmer

by LadyFeb29



Category: Welcome to Hell - All Media Types
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Family, For Rare Ship Week, Holiday, Kissing, Lil's cat is here, Praise, Which I have decided to turn into Liljo week, Winter, because this fandom needs more smol sapphics, sleeping, so is her mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9151207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyFeb29/pseuds/LadyFeb29
Summary: Drabbles for the Rare Ship Week prompts on tumblr :)All of them are going to be LilJo. All of them. Just two girls, doing things (and sometimes stuff!) while also being kinda gay.





	1. Praise

**Author's Note:**

> This one includes Lil's cat, who, I suppose, is technically an OC. All you need to know is that her name is Cleo and she's a sphinx. 
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy :D

“The huntress stalks her prey through the dense jungle. A flash of color--oh! Is that it? Is that it?”

“This is dumb.”

“She prepares her attack. Low to the ground, a little butt wiggle, and--” 

Cleo hopped over to the feather dangle, catching it in her paws and flipping onto her back to bat at it. Lil was sitting on the edge of her bed, cooing over her antics, and Jojo was just about ready to tear her hair out.

“You should be doing your homework.”

“I know, I know.” Lil turned towards her guardian angel, who was floating a few inches above the surface of her desk. “I’ll do it in a minute, promise.”

“That’s what you said five minutes ago.” Jojo crossed her arms and tried her best to look authoritative. From the bored, exasperated expression on Lil’s face, it wasn’t working too well. 

“Look, it’s just one worksheet. It’ll take me like, twenty minutes.” Lil lifted the feather dangle out of Cleo’s reach, and the cat jumped to attention. Jojo wrinkled her nose. Cats had never been her favorite animals--she was really more of a dog person--but at least most cats had the decency to be fluffy. The thing in front of her didn’t even do that.

“Why does it look so weird?” She asked, mostly just for herself. Ever since she’d seen Cleo for the first time, she and the hairless cat had been on tense terms. Like most animals, Cleo could sense the souls of the dead, especially when they were nearby. Technically, since she was an angel, Jojo should have given off a calming, serene aura that would put any anxious pets at ease. 

Not so with this damn cat. 

In between dips of the feathers, Cleo would look over to Jojo, stare for a few seconds, and turn her attention back to Lil. For the entire two months that Jojo had been hanging around, that was all the cat had fucking done. Sitting on the couch? Stare. Floating into the room? Stare. Trying to get her charge to sit down and do her fucking homework? Stare. 

Sometimes, like now, Jojo would stare back. She never needed to blink, so the staring competitions could go on for uncomfortable lengths of time. Whenever she stumbled upon one, Lil always shuddered before hoisting Cleo into her arms and taking her into the kitchen for a treat. Now, Cleo stopped chasing the feather in favor of staring back at Jojo. It took a minute before Lil figured out what was going on, and when she did, she heaved a sigh, flopping back onto her blankets to glare at Jojo.

“Why do you always do that?”

“Shh. You’ll break my concentration.” Jojo narrowed her eyes, and Cleo sat up a little bit. Then, in a whisper, “I won’t lose, cat.”

Lil snorted, shaking her head. “Of course you won’t. You’re dead.” Silence. “But seriously, why? It’s creepy.”

“I must show this cat that I’m the boss.” Unfolding her arms, Jojo leaned forward, trying to intensify her stare. 

Shaking her head, Lil got up off the bed and bent down to pick Cleo up off the floor. Abruptly, the staring contest ended, and Jojo finally blinked to roll her eyes. Cradling Cleo in one arm, Lil tossed the feather dangle into the corner with her free hand. “You don’t show cats that you’re ‘the boss.’ Cats take care of themselves.”

“Well, why else would she stare at me like that?”

“She stares at you?”

“The only reason I do it is because she does it!” Jojo realized that she sounded awfully childish--blaming things on a fucking cat, who does that?--but it was the truth, and she was going to stick by it. 

“Oh, well, if she’s staring at you, that means she thinks you’re prey.” Lil held Cleo out towards Jojo. “Get her, Cleo!”

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Jojo backed away from the cat, who was sniffing the air around the desk intently. “Get it away from me.”

“She’s not actually gonna hurt you, y’know. She’s a good little kitty.” Still, she pulled Cleo back and started cooing again. “Yes, you are, you’re such a good kitty.”

Snorting, Jojo slid off the desk to float over the floor. She was a good few inches shorter than Lil, and the need to crane her neck in order to see her charge’s face always made her feel less intimidating. “You give the damn cat more compliments than you give me.”

“Well, yeah.” Lil released Cleo onto the floor, and the cat walked slowly out the door, checking over its shoulder to stare at Jojo once before scampering into the hallway. “She’s my cat.”

“I’m your guardian angel.”

“At least she helps me by being adorable.” Lil finally--finally!--slouched down at her desk, playing absent-mindedly with a pencil. She smirked when Jojo squawked indignantly. 

“I’m cute!”

“Eh, not really.”

“I am, too.”

“You’re a tiny ball of rage, Jo. And not a cute one.” Lil pulled a worksheet out of a folder, sighed, and tapped her pencil a few times before hesitantly starting on the first question. 

Jojo watched her in silence for a few minutes before muttering, “I can be cute. Sometimes.”

“Well, you’re not being cute right now.” There was a little bit of harshness, a little bit of irritation, under her words, and Jojo snapped her mouth shut, cutting off whatever she had been planning to say. Instead, she sank down next to the desk, pulling her knees up to her chest, and taking off her baseball cap. Sulking. Again, how childish. For ten minutes, the only sound in the room was Lil’s pencil scratching across the paper. 

Then, “Damn.” Lil slapped her pencil down, reached for her eraser, and promptly knocked it off her desk. A sigh rang from above Jojo’s head, and she eased herself around the corner. Without thinking, almost automatically, she reached out for the eraser, and berated herself when--no surprise--her fingers slipped right through it. 

She tried concentrating this time. Nope. Again. Nope. Again? Nope. After the fourth try, she hummed in frustration, swiping her hand back and forth through the eraser. Nope. Finally, face screwed up in angry concentration, she poked at it rapidly until, finally, she felt the surface against her skin, and she giggled in triumph as the eraser moved half a centimeter. 

“Pffffft.” 

Looking up, Jojo saw Lil quickly turning her face away, hand up over her mouth and shoulders shaking in silent rolls of laughter. “What?”

A short laugh escaped Lil’s mouth. “Oh, God, that was adorable!”

Jojo rose up to her knees, trying to get a glimpse of Lil’s face. “What? What did I do?”

Finally turning back to Jojo, Lil restrained her snickers long enough to answer. “That--that thing, with the eraser.”

“I was just trying to pick it up. I just can’t, because, well...” 

“I know.” Lil leaned over and scooped up the eraser, placing it back on the desk. “Thanks for the thought, though.” Before returning to her worksheet, she gently placed a hand on Jojo’s head, stroking her hair. Half the time, her fingers dipped through Jojo, and an odd, dry warmth seeped into her bones. Ignoring it, she cooed, “Good angel.”

With that, she returned to her worksheet, and Jojo plopped back down on the floor, head spinning. After a minute, she picked up her cap and placed it back on her head, mumbling, “Just finish the worksheet, yeah?”


	2. Dancing

“I’ll drop by the grocery store on the way home. You need anything?”

Lil darted a nervous glance towards Jojo before turning to her mother and answering the question. “No, I think I’m good.”

“Alright, then, I’m off.” Her mother stooped over the back of the sofa and placed a quick kiss on Lil’s head. “Call if you think of anything you need.”

“Fine.” Lil rubbed at the spot where her mother’s kiss had landed with her sleeve. “Have a good day.”

“Thanks, sweetie.” And with that, her mother was finally out the door. Lil breathed a sigh of relief. Just before her mother had walked into the room, she’d been whispering at Jojo, who was currently standing awkwardly in front of the DVD case, and for a split second, she’d feared her mother had heard the one-sided conversation.

Now that her mother had left the apartment, she could safely return to berating Jojo. “Just pick one, already! I seriously don’t give a shit, at this point.”

“You may not, but I do.” Jojo tilted her head to read a title. “What’s ‘Dream Girls’ about?”

“Oh, geez. I take it back, I definitely give a shit about what we watch.” Lil rubbed a hand over her face, scrubbing the last bits of sleep from her eyes. Cleo had gotten her up absurdly early--apparently a half-full bowl of food meant no food to her dumb cat--and since then, she’d been dozing on the couch. About an hour ago, Jojo had shown up, whined about being bored, and Lil had directed her to the movies sitting next to the TV. 

And now she was realizing that her mother’s taste in movies was awfully bad. Nigh-on shit quality, actually. 

“Okay, um...what about ‘Free Birds’?” 

“God, no. Like, Dream Girls is just boring, but Free Birds is awful.” Lil sat up, scooching towards the edge of the couch cushion. “Just, like. Ignore everything on the left side of that shelf. Please.”

Jojo rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor, studying the movies on one of the lower shelves. Well, not really ‘sat’--she never touched the floor; never had, so far as Lil knew. Instead, she just kind of floated there, an inch or two off the carpet. Lil started zoning out, staring at the space between Jojo and the floor. The sound of Cleo jumping up onto the side table jerked her back into reality, and she belatedly realized that it looked like she was staring at Jojo’s butt.

Leaning back into the sofa, she forced herself to look at anything that was Not Jojo. She ended up focusing on the ceiling fan and some dust that was hanging off one of the blades.

“What’s this one?” 

“I need a name, darlin’.” Lil continued to stare at the ceiling. She heard Jojo hum in frustration.

“There’s no name, that’s why I’m asking.”

Lil groaned and brought her gaze back down to her guardian angel. Jojo was looking at her expectantly, pointing towards the blank black spine of a DVD case. “I don’t know.” 

“You don’t wanna find out?”

“Like I said, I don’t care.”

“I thought you said you did care.”

“Only when it’s my mom’s movies. Anything else, whatever.”

Jojo made an annoyed noise, glaring at Lil. Lil held her gaze cooly, until the angel finally returned her attention to the shelf. Instead of moving on--what Lil was hoping she’d do--Jojo wrinkled her nose, focusing all her attention on the case, and reached out a hand to touch it.

To Lil’s surprise, she actually managed to move it--by pushing it further back into the shelf. Jojo pouted, then started trying to touch again. And again. Lil rolled her eyes.

“Stop that.”

“I wanna know what it is.”

“...You’re not gonna pick a movie until you find out, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Fine, fine.” Lil hauled herself off the sofa and plopped down next to Jojo. She pulled the case off the shelf and snapped it open. Inside was a generic DVD with her mother’s scrawl across the front. 

Before Jojo could lean over and decipher the words, Lil slammed the case shut. “Nope. No. Hell no. Would rather watch Free Birds.”

“Why? What is it?” Jojo reached for the case, and Lil pulled it out of her reach before realizing that Jojo probably wouldn’t be able to touch it, anyway.

“You really want to know?”

“Yes.” Swiping for the case again, Jojo started pouting when Lil held it further out of reach. 

“What’re you willing to do?”

Pausing, Jojo narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to bargain your way out of this?”

“Oh, let me think. Yep.” Lil quickly shoved the case back onto the shelf, burying it into the back. “And if you’re not willing to do anything for me, then I’m afraid I just can’t--”

“I won’t stare at your cat for the rest of the week.” Jojo cut in suddenly, looking absolutely serious. Lil almost snorted.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Jojo pointed at the place where Lil had stuck the box. “What is it?”

Lil considered her options, briefly. On the one hand, she really didn’t want to tell anyone about that phase in her life, especially not someone like Jojo--who would probably never let her live it down--but, on the other hand, if she didn’t tell, Jojo would never shut up about it. And also probably start staring contests with Cleo all week, just to spite her. 

Finally, she grimaced, and pulled the case out again. Before she opened it, she glared at Jojo. “Promise?”

Eagerly leaning forward, Jojo smiled--an action that unsettled something in Lil’s stomach in a not-unpleasant way--and nodded. “Promise. No staring contests.”

“Okay.” Lil cracked open the case and held it out for Jojo to read. Jojo squinted at the words, and Lil smirked. Her mother’s handwriting had always been terrible, but this had an exceptional level of shittiness. At last, Jojo deciphered the words. 

“Lil’s Dance Recital?”

“Yep. Circa first grade, I believe.”

“You used to be in dance?” Jojo’s expression wasn’t what Lil had expected. She’d expected jeering, teasing, but the face before her looked more. Confused. Perplexed.

“Um, yeah. I was really young, though, so I wasn’t very good.” Lil rubbed the edge of the DVD, spinning it. Then, quietly, “I wanted to be a ballerina.”

A little giggle--there was the jeering bit she’d been looking for!--but then, seriously, Jojo said, “I can’t see you as a ballerina.”

Lil popped the DVD out and snorted. “Neither can I.”

Jojo stood up, moving out of the way as Lil scooted over to the DVD player. “Are we watching it?”

“Sure. Why not?” Closing the tray, Lil grabbed the remote and flopped down on the couch. Jojo followed, hovering over the cushion next to her. 

Five minutes later, both girls were laughing their asses off, trying (and constantly failing) to catch a breath in between bouts of giggles.

“Okay, okay watch--and then this bitch,” Lil gasped out, pointing towards the screen, “decides to stick her tongue out at me! Mid performance. No reason, just because.”

“Oh my god!” Jojo was curled up into a ball, clutching at her sides. “It’s so bad! What are you even trying to do, high-five the ceiling?”

“It was supposed--” Lil cleared her throat, “It was supposed to be like, a representation of the times of day and super serious and whatever, except we’re all like, six, and we can’t remember how to do shit.”

Lil paused the performance after the second routine, laying back on the couch to breathe, expel the last of the first round of giggles. 

Before she hits play again, Jojo leans up against her side, still grinning and shaking with silent laughter. Lil’s stomach unsettles again, except this time, it’s definitely pleasant, and the warmth exuding from Jojo’s small frame is seeping through her entire body. 

Dumbly, she says, “You’re really warm.”

Jojo gives her a brief, blank stare, before, replying, “Thank you?”

“Uh.” Lil bites her lip, and makes up her mind. She presses play again, pushes herself a little closer to Jojo. “Oh, here we go. The damn rain dance thing that went to shit.”

“Oooh, that sounds promising.”


	3. Kissing

“Have you ever been kissed?”

“Hm?” Jojo inhaled heavily, and breathed out a yawn, soundless and airless. “What?”

Lil tapped the edge of her phone case nervously. The two girls had been lounging on Lil’s bed for almost two hours now. While Jojo switched between nodding off and scowling at Cleo, Lil had been scrolling through her social media feeds, reaching the end, and refreshing them. The lights were off, the blinds were open, and the sun was sinking low into the horizon. Her mother was due home in less than ten minutes. If she wanted to have a conversation with her guardian angel, now was the time.

“Have you ever been kissed?” She asked again, hiding her burning cheeks in the light of her phone screen. Next to her, she heard Jojo readjust her position, the sheets on the bed never moving an inch. 

Finally, “Yes, but it didn’t count. At all.”

Reaching over to her desk, Lil switched on her lamp. They both blinked in the sudden light. “Why not?”

“Because it was a dare.”

Lil snorted. “Someone dared you into your first kiss? How’d that happen?”

Folding her arms across her chest, Jojo wrinkled her brow. “What’s that supposed to mean, pray tell?”

“Just that you don’t seem like the kind of person who actually does dares.”

“I was like, five, okay?”

“Awww,” Lil cooed, poking at Jojo’s cheek. “Little Jojo must’ve been so cute.”

“I will have you know that I was fucking adorable.”

“Mmhmm. So what happened?” Lil hid her grin, letting Jojo fall into the trap.

“What, with the dare? I kissed a guy and it was gross.”

“No, I meant, what happened that made you so…” Gesturing quickly to her face, Lil felt her cheeks straining to keep the smile in. “So not-adorable?”

Thirty seconds, an indignant Jojo, and an unsuccessfully slapped Lil later, the laughter quieted down enough for Jojo to ask, “So what brought this on in the first place, anyway?”

“Hm?”

“Did you kiss someone lately or something?”

“Oh, no. One of my friends from middle school got a boyfriend, and she’s always on Facebook ranting about how awesome dating is, and blah blah blah, on and on…” Lil lay back on a pillow, looking up at Jojo. “I just kinda realized that I’ve never been kissed, y’know? Feels like I’m falling behind.”

Jojo made a face, and Lil giggled again. “You’re not missing out, trust me. It’s really fucking overrated.”

“Is it? Tell me, O Master of the Kissing Ways.” Lil ducked as Jojo jabbed at her again. This time, her fingers caught and moved a few strands of Lil’s hair. Goosebumps rose on Lil’s neck, and she rolled her shoulder uncomfortably.

“It’s wet. And it feels weird.” Jojo took her hand back, holding it close to her chest. Her voice became quiet. “And it didn’t feel good.”

Lil quirked an eyebrow. To get Jojo looking that timid, this dare-kiss must’ve been something else entirely. “Why not?”

“I didn’t...like the guy I kissed. At all.” Jojo twisted her mouth into a sad sort of grimace. “Looking back on my childhood, I actually think I hated him.”

“So then why’d you kiss him?”

Shrugging, Jojo shifted to hug her knees close to her chest. “My older sister dared me to. She got the idea from my mom.” Lil’s expression was confused enough for her to continue, “My mom was one of those people who likes to tease their kids about having boyfriends, or girlfriends, or whatever.”

“Oh….” Lil hummed. “That does sound kind of shitty.”

“It was.” Over her knees, Jojo stared out the window. Then, “I really hated that kid.” 

Lil felt her heart crack, a little bit. The words were simple enough, but the tone--there was something underneath the quiver in Jojo’s voice, something in the way the corners of her mouth turned down, that Lil wasn’t sure she wanted to know about. The silence stretched on, and Lil glanced at her alarm clock out of the corner of her eye. Three minutes until her mom was home. She sucked in a deep breath and sat up.

This was crazy. Insane, almost. But she was going to do it. Even if the embarrassment might kill her.

“D’you want a different first kiss?” Fuck, that sounded so bad. She bit her lip as Jojo lifted her head out from behind her knees and looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

“What?”

“Like, I mean. Your first kiss was shitty, and now you’re dead, so, y’know.” Lil groaned internally as Jojo’s confusion only grew. Shit. “Look. You didn’t want your first kiss. I want to get my first kiss. You see where I’m going here?”

A flash of realization crossed Jojo’s face, briefly, before disappearing behind skepticism. “You want to...kiss? Me?”

Lil felt her cheeks start to burn. Only two more minutes alone in the apartment. No time for games, no time to explain herself. Lamely, she squeaked,“Yes, please?”

Jojo’s eyes widened for a split second before she scrunched them closed, half giggling, half trying to hide her face, which was quickly turning bright pink. “Uh, heh. That’s a joke, right?”

“No.” Lil tried to make the single syllable sound as serious as possible. The clock was ticking, after all.

“Oh,” Jojo breathed, then resolutely looked down at her hands. “Um.” Lil’s pulse was pounding in her ears, and she spared another glance at the clock. One minute. After what felt like a lifetime--but was probably closer to ten seconds--Jojo nodded, raising her head. “Okay.”

Lil made an unattractive little squeak in the back of her throat, but she thanked her lucky stars that she didn’t actually manage to say something stupid. Instead, she sat up, facing Jojo, and reached out for a tiny, pale hand. 

She was always so surprised whenever she touched Jojo. Her skin didn’t feel like anything but warmth--every part of Jojo, from her fingers to her arms to her stomach--felt warm. Not quite like heat, not nearly that oppressive, but calm and comfortable and cozy. She let one hand rest in Jojo’s palm, and brought the other up to cup her cheek. 

The cheek was a little more fiery, a little less gentle. Lil’s stomach flipped. She leaned in a little further, almost relieved that Jojo had already closed her eyes, couldn’t see how nervous Lil was.

Their lips connected at the same moment the lock in the front door clicked open. Lil’s heart jumped, she tried to pull away, and Jojo’s hands leapt up out of her lap to yank her back.

Jojo’s mouth melded to hers, all heat and pressure. Not wet, which was surprising, but also not shocking. She could feel the ghost of what Jojo’s lips must’ve felt like before she died, smooth and thin. Lil sank into the kiss, despite the encroaching sounds of her mother hanging up her coat and taking off her shoes. And even though the heat was growing, was starting to sting the tips of her fingers, Lil wanted nothing more than to submerge herself in it. 

She was about to pull back for a gasp of air when her mother tapped on the door, pushing it open. Jumping back, Lil hoped that her face wasn’t red.

“Hey, sweetie. Did you already eat?” Relief washed over her. Nothing noticed.

“No.” The word sounded a little raspy, and Lil cleared her throat awkwardly. 

“Okay, well, I’m gonna heat up some of the meatloaf from last night. Want any?”

“Uh,” Lil finally peeked at Jojo. The angel was sitting oddly still, eyes half lidded and fingers curled, as if seeking to grab something. “...Sure.”

“Alrighty! Be in the kitchen in five.” And with that, her mother left the doorway, and Lil released a sigh of relief. She ran a hand through her bangs, trying to get herself back in shape, even though she knew nothing had been ruffled. 

Just as she was about to stand up, her forearm was circled in warmth. Looking down, she saw Jojo’s hand clamped around her wrist. “Uh…”

“You’ve got five minutes.” Lil’s pulse caught at the low, teasing lilt of Jojo’s voice. The angel pulled at her wrist, and she followed, falling back onto the bed without resistance. Sliding her hand up Lil’s arm, Jojo flicked her gaze down to her lips. “Again.”


	4. Winter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter, this time. I'm tired.
> 
> Turns out, staying up til 4 am will do that to you (hahahaha..ha....heh. Help.)

Lil’s fingers hung loose around the call cord next to her, and when they’d passed 66th Street, she pulled. Over the din of her music, she faintly heard the ‘ding’ of the stop request and the automated voice asking her to Please Watch Out For Traffic When Stepping Off The Bus. A few blocks later, the bus rolled to a stop, and Lil sighed, slinging her backpack over one shoulder.

This was not gonna be pretty.

It had started snowing this morning. At first, it was sort of beautiful--she watched it fall outside the window during her math class instead of paying attention to the teacher, which was probably a bad idea, but it was just so goddamn mesmerizing. Then, around noon, it had started falling harder and harder until looking out the window in the cafeteria was like staring at static on a broken television set. The school had tried to keep the sidewalks clear, but she still ended up getting snow in her shoes. And now, after a truly terrifying ride on the city bus down streets that had not yet been plowed, Lil was preparing to set out on the five-block walk home. 

Before pushing the door open, Lil popped out one of her earbuds and called a thank you to the driver, who was looking practically sick with anxiety. He just nodded and waved, weakly. Opening the doors, Lil peered down at the snow, speckled with slush from the street, and grit her teeth.

Stepping off was like stepping into a tub of ice water. It went up over her shoes; she swore some of the snow even made it into her socks. “Shit, shit, cold, cold, cold.”

“Well, hurry it up, then.”

Lil scowled, made sure the bus had driven away, and turned back to her guardian angel. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you try walking in over a foot of snow?”

Jojo smirked and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no. Think I’ll pass.” She floated a few steps ahead of Lil, watching her charge make slow progress through the drifts. When Lil made it to within reaching distance, she leaned forward and landed a peck on her forehead. “Congrats.”

“Shut up.” Lil rubbed at the now-warm spot between her eyes. “You were awfully quiet on the bus ride today.”

“Okay, two reasons for that.” Jojo counted off her fingers, “One, it was fucking terrifying, did you feel how often we fishtailed on the turns?” Lil nodded, and Jojo continued. “And two,” a slightly wicked smile, “it’s really fun to watch people try and figure out how to drive in snow.”

“What? The fear of death by car crash amuses you?”

“No, but like, the way they think every little fucking thing is gonna send them flying, and then they end up just sliding around everywhere anyway.” Jojo released a cackle that was decidedly non-angelic, and Lil rolled her eyes. 

They reached a street, and Jojo easily floated over a pile of snow at the curb that Lil had to fight her way across. By now, she wouldn’t be surprised if some of the snow ended up in her underwear. 

By the middle of the next block, Lil switched off her music and took out the other earbud, wincing as the wire crackled when she bent it to stuff everything into her pockets. Her fingers were growing pale towards the tips, blood retreating further up her arm, where it wasn’t so goddamn cold. 

Jojo reached over at the next street, face screwed up in concentration, and brushed some snow off the top of Lil’s head. It fell down under her jacket, and she yelped, trying to bend away from the cold while Jojo tried (and failed) not to laugh.

“What the hell?”

“I was trying to help!”

“Look,” Lil stomped over another pile of snow, onto a sidewalk that had been recently cleared (bless the neighbor’s hearts, anyway). “If you wanna be helpful, hold my hand.”

“Oh?” Jojo delicately held out her hand, and Lil seized it. “We’re into public displays of affection now, hm?”

“No,” Curling her fingers inside Jojo’s palm, Lil almost cried when heat started seeping back into her skin. “My hands are fucking freezing, and you’re warm.”

Jojo snorted, but slowed down when they reached the end of the shoveled stretch of sidewalk. She stayed by Lil’s side all through the next two blocks. During that time, neither of the girls spoke. Lil was concentrating on keeping herself both upright and mobile, while Jojo let her gaze wander from the birds shaking snow off the branches of trees to the occasional car that slid past them on the road. 

A block from Lil’s apartment building, Jojo broke the silence. “What’re we doing when we get to your place?”

Lil released a mirthless puff of air. “I don’t know about you, toots, but I’m putting on my pajamas and wrapping myself in a blanket. Maybe two blankets.”

“Ah.” Jojo bit her lip, and Lil realized how odd Jojo looked in this scene: wearing shorts and no shoes while walking down a snow-covered sidewalk; leaving no tracks behind her; snow falling down through her body to settle, undisturbed, beneath her feet.

Fuck it. Not like they were going to have school tomorrow, not with this weather. “We could watch a movie, or something, if you want?”

“What, while you defrost?” 

Pulling Jojo closer--who cared if it looked awkward to passerby, anyway, not like anybody was paying attention to her with all the damn snow--Lil shrugged. “Sure. You can thaw out my nose.”

That pulled a giggle out of the blonde. Jojo opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and pouted. After a few seconds of thought, Lil could guess what it was. 

She cleared her throat. “And, y’know. My lips might need some thawing, too.”

The heat circling her fingers flared.


	5. Holiday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The holiday in question is New Year's! And on that note, a happy belated New Year to all of you :D

Sighing, Lil clicked her lock screen on and groaned when she saw the time. Another hour to go, which meant another one of her mom’s dumb movies.

From beside her, she heard twin sniffles, although her mother only heard one. Lil raised an eyebrow at Jojo, who was desperately trying to keep tears from falling out her eyes. She’d known at the outset that her mother would be weepy tonight--apparently moderately sad movie scene plus score in a minor key was enough to turn on the waterworks--but she hadn’t been expecting tears from Jojo, of all people. When the angel saw the incredulous look on Lil’s face, she wiped at her cheeks and shrugged sheepishly.

“It was sadder than I thought it would be.”

“Hmm.” Lil glanced at the far end of the couch, where her mother was blowing her nose into a badly abused tissue. While her mother was around, she didn’t dare talk to Jojo; at least, nothing above a quick whisper. 

“Oh, I love that movie.” Speaking of her mother. She finished cleaning up her face, then got up to switch the discs in the DVD player. This was Lil and her mother’s New Year's Eve tradition: bad pizza from the delivery place two streets over, too much caffeinated pop, and bad, sappy movies. For the first time, unbeknownst to her mother, there were three people participating. 

Thus far, they’d watched three movies, eaten an entire pizza, and finished most of a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper. Around midnight, her mom would break out the cheap wine that she kept in the freezer and have a glass. Lil wouldn’t ask for any (she’d tasted it once before, and that was a mistake not worth repeating). 

“What’re we watching now?” Lil asked, yawning. It wasn’t that she was sleepy; it was that she was tired of bad movies. “Something that’s not sentimental garbage?”

“Yeah, yeah. Diss on my movies all you like, missy. It’s my revenge for Rainbow Princess Paws.”

Lil saw the confused look Jojo sent her, and groaned internally. First of all, how dare her mother bring up that regretful glitter-vomit of a movie, and second, how in the hell was she supposed to communicate to her guardian angel/sort-of girlfriend that she did not, in fact, still like said movie?

“C’mon, that was like, over ten years ago.”

“Twenty times, Lil. Twenty. Times. In a week.”

Lil grimaced as Jojo started giggling. Maybe it was a good thing her mother couldn’t see Jojo; they’d be ganging up on her all the damn time. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Can we watch something that doesn’t suck ass now?”

Her mother heaved a dramatic sigh, then pulled out a case from the shelf, holding it up for Lil to see. “How’s this?”

Star Wars, Episode V. “Fine. Better than damn near everything else we’ve seen tonight.”

“Oh, shush.” Her mom popped the disc into the player and flopped back onto her spot on the couch. “Steel Magnolias is a classic.”

Rolling her eyes, Lil motioned Jojo a little closer. The angel scooted more towards Lil’s side of the couch, and Lil reclined so that Jojo could snuggle into her side. She opted to leave her arms awkwardly above her head rather than try to explain to her mother why one arm was hovering comfortably half a foot in the air. 

Lil had chosen to sit on this end of the couch for two reasons: one, the space heater was on the other end, and her mom--who had been working until 5--definitely deserved toasty toes tonight. Second, she had an excuse to cuddle with Jojo. Even if, after five minutes, she felt like she was burning up and had to dump her blanket onto the floor.

From her vantage point, leaning on the armrest of the sofa, Lil could just make out the small form of Cleo, stretching out in front of the space heater for a nap. She whipped out her phone and snapped a quick picture, cooing while Jojo rolled her eyes. Then the opening credits started, and they were off on the final stretch of the last night of the old year.

Forty-five minutes later, as expected, her mom got up to get the wine. While she was gone, Lil wrapped an arm around Jojo’s waist, letting the warmth of her girlfriend work its way into her bones. In a whisper, “So.”

“So?”

“Wassup?”

“I think I liked the last movie more than this one.”

“...No, you don’t.”

“Uh, yeah, I do.”

“No. Nope. Not allowed.”

“Oh, please.” Jojo swatted at Lil’s shoulder, just as the freezer door slapped shut again, and her mother started back towards the living room. Lil stuck out her tongue quickly and pulled it in at the last second, right before her mom sat down again. 

Fifteen minutes later, her mother’s phone alarm went off, and she smiled over at Lil. “Happy New Year, sweetie.”

“Happy New Year,” Lil hummed, feeling Jojo squirm to get a better look at her face.

Then, a whisper, warm against her ear, “Happy New Year.”

Lil smirked and bumped her forehead against Jojo’s in the near-darkness. She didn’t say anything, hoping instead that her smile could speak for her. 

A little over an hour later, the movie finally ended. With a yawn that sounded nearly genuine, her mother turned off the TV and got up to put her wine glass in the sink. “I’m gonna go straight to bed. Can you put the leftovers away?” Looking back down at Lil, sprawled out on the sofa, “If it’s not too much trouble to get up, anyway.”

Groping for her phone, Lil started lifting herself up, dumping Jojo back onto the couch. Ignoring the pout sent her way, she said, “Nah, I got it. Go to bed.”

“Alright.” Her mother reached a hand over and ruffled her hair. “Good night. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Lil smoothed out her bangs and picked up a pizza box. “Night.” She waited until she heard her mother’s door close, then sighed and looked back to Jojo, who was hovering above the back of the sofa.

“C’mon.” Walking into the kitchen, she felt Jojo’s warmth close to her back. It left shortly after she slipped the leftover pizza slices into a bag and tossed them unceremoniously into the fridge. Turning around, she found her angel sitting on the counter next to the sink. She sidled over, casually planting her hands on either side of Jojo’s hips. 

Jojo smirked, placing her hands over Lil’s and twining their fingers together. “So?”

“So.”

“Wassup?”

“What’d you think of the Nancy family tradition?” Lil snorted when Jojo grimaced and shrugged. “Yeah, it’s not much.”

“It’s better than what I used to do.” Jojo leaned in close, bumping her forehead against Lil’s. “My family just watched the ball drop on TV every year. Went to bed right after midnight.”

“Sounds boring.”

“It kinda was.” In her peripheral vision, Lil made out Jojo’s teeth pulling at her lip. “You wanna know something?”

“What?”

“I was kinda hoping that, y’know. By the time I got my first g-girlfriend…” Jojo tripped over the word a little, and Lil blushed. Why was it so damn hard for both of them to say? “That I’d get a kiss on New Year’s.” 

Lil smirked, rubbing a thumb over one of Jojo’s knuckles. “Like in the movies?”

Jojo’s responding smile was soft and a little embarrassed. “Yeah. Like in the movies.”

“Well,” Lil pulled back to look Jojo directly in the eyes. “It’s a little overdue, then, but would you like to be my first kiss of the New Year?”

“Why, I thought you’d never ask.”


	6. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (casually creates an entire family tree for a fictional character)

Jojo was doing her best to flip through a magazine unnoticed, when her charge suddenly slammed her textbook closed. She turned around just in time to see Lil angrily sign off of the library’s computer, snatch up her bookbag, and stalk over to where Jojo was lounging. 

Lil’s apartment didn’t have a computer, much less internet, so whenever she had online homework to do, she dragged Jojo down the street to the public library. Jojo was getting so familiar with the Teen section that she could tell when somebody had put a book back the wrong way (and the solution to this problem, she’d learned, was definitely not to interrupt Lil and tell her about it). Today, someone had left a magazine out on the floor, and Jojo was draped over the end of a beanbag chair trying to read it inconspicuously. 

For now, though, it would be better to focus on Lil, who heaved an irritated sigh and flopped down in the nearest armchair. “Wassup?”

After checking to make sure no one was near by, Lil whispered, “This assignment is stupid. My teacher’s stupid. Everything is stupid and I wanna go home.”

“Did you get it done, at least?” Jojo asked, worried. Although recently she’d taken on the title of ‘girlfriend’, her actual job was still to ‘provide guidance’, whatever that meant. Most of the time, it meant pestering Lil to get her homework done. Like now, for instance.

Lil snorted and shook her head, and Jojo scowled. Again checking for eavesdroppers, Lil leaned forward conspiratorially and plucked the magazine from the floor. “It’s dumb and I can’t do it.”

“Oh, please--”

“Don’t you ‘oh, please’ me. I literally have no clue what to put down.”

“Can’t you look it up?”

“Oh, yeah, let me just look up my absent father’s family history. Real easy.”

Now she was just confused. “Family history?”

Lil flipped boredly though the magazine, pausing to peel some sticky pages apart. “Yeah, it’s like a family tree thing. Like I know anything about my family, besides my mom.”

“Don’t you have grandparents?”

“Yeah. Do I know them? No.”

“Can you ask your mom?”

A strange look crossed Lil’s face. “Y’know, I actually brought up my grandparents once, and it didn’t end well.” She sighed. “Actually, I’d say that conversation ended pretty badly.”

“Oh.” Jojo wasn’t sure what else she could say. The whole thing sounded like a mess she’d rather not know about. From her observations, she viewed Lil’s mother as a slightly airheaded, well-meaning woman with a job that put way too much stress on her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to challenge that image with history.

“And my dad’s side--god, that’s not even worth getting into.” Lil dropped the magazine back onto the floor, and Jojo winced. The two girls were silent for several long minutes. An awkward, acne-faced middle schooler came and went. Finally, Lil spoke, and Jojo was surprised to hear tears lurking under her words. “It’s just like, everyone else has perfect little fucking families, and I’ve just got this hot mess.”

Jojo bit her lip and adjusted herself awkwardly on the beanbag chair. She couldn’t say much that would be comforting. After all, before she’d died, she had had one of those ‘perfect little fucking families’. True, there had been some rumblings of trouble--Jojo suspected that her mother had been pregnant, and that it wasn’t her dad’s kid--but then death had happened, and all of a sudden family ties hadn’t really mattered any more. 

Meanwhile Lil was still ranting under her breath. “Oh, yeah, let’s just do a unit on immigration and tracking our family histories back, everyone knows that, oh wait, except for me because of course.”

“‘Of course’ what?” Jojo broke in, and Lil jumped at the interruption.

“I mean, of course I don’t know this about myself. Where my family is from.” Lil tucked her feet under her thighs, tugging the sleeves of her jacket down over her hands. “D’you know where your family’s from?”

“Uh,” Jojo thought back; surely her mother had lectured her about this, right? “...France? Maybe?”

“See? Even you know, and you’re dead.” Humming in frustration, Lil buried her face behind her arms. Jojo faintly heard a muffled, “It’s not fair.”

Another bout of silence, and Jojo was getting nervous with how quiet Lil was becoming. She tried to reason, briefly, that since they were in a library, being quiet made the most sense, but Lil’s hard breathing put an end to that train of thought. 

Gingerly, she reached out to rub Lil’s shoulder. “Hey--”

Abruptly, Lil threw off her hand, standing up and glaring at Jojo over her shoulder. Her words came out as a hiss. “I don’t need your fucking sympathy.”

Before Jojo had the time to be indignant, to get angry, Lil stomped off, heading for the doors. 

Jojo floated to a standing position, positively seething. She felt her face getting hot, knew that, if someone looked closely, they’d be able to see the heat shimmer surrounding her body, and completely failed to give a shit. She kicked at the magazine, even though it did nothing. She stomped her foot, which also did nothing, and only made her more frustrated. 

What she did not do was follow Lil home. 

Instead, she floated around the library for an hour, two hours, three hours. She was still there when they closed, almost five hours after Lil had left. She was still there at midnight, although by then, she’d stopped seething and started thinking.

It really wasn’t fair.

And she knew what the logical response was, what her dad would say--’the world’s not fair, Jojo’--and she knew that, but this was Lil, and Lil deserved better.

In the middle of the nonfiction section, next to a shelf about knitting, she stopped, and made her decision. Lil deserved better. Lil deserved to know.

If she’d been alive, figuring out how to get this information--a lost family history--would have been nearly impossible. So, Jojo thought as she drifted up to phase through the ceiling, being dead would seem to have a few perks, after all.

Even if what she was about to do was probably ten kinds of illegal. All the way back to Heaven, she repeated to herself: Lil deserves better.

Lil deserves to know.

\------

The next morning, Lil woke up to a bright warmth on her cheek. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see Jojo sitting on the edge of her bed, looking decidedly not-pissed. Holding back a yawn, Lil sat up. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

Recalling her actions the evening before, Lil resisted the urge to slap herself in the face. Sure, her situation was shitty, and sure, she’d get a shit grade on the assignment, but it wasn’t Jojo’s fault. “Look, Jo--”

“Your dad’s name is Jason Young.”

Lil’s breath stopped short. Of course she’d already known that--had known it since second grade, when her mom finally told her about a week-long tryst that ended in the baby known as Magill Nancy--but how the fuck had Jojo found out?

Meanwhile, Jojo continued. “You have a half-sister in California and two half-brothers in Oklahoma. Both of your dad’s parents are dead, but your mom’s parents are still alive.”

“Wait--”

“Your mom’s parent’s names are James and Charlotte.”

“How--”

“Your mom had an older sister named Lydia who died in a car crash when she was twenty-one.”

“How the hell--”

“I looked up your file.” Jojo’s smile became sheepish. “Sorry.”

It took a minute for the words to sink in. “...You looked up my family? In Heaven?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I peeked at the files, I didn’t like, track them down, or anything.”

“...I have family in Heaven?”

“Yeah, apparently your aunt works in accounting.”

The laughter came on so gradually that even Lil was surprised when it bubbled out of her mouth. Between giggles, she managed, “I don’t know why that’s so funny!”

Jojo smirked. “It’s kinda weird, yeah.” Standing up, Jojo floated over Lil’s bed and placed another peck on her cheek. “Now finish your dumb homework.”


	7. Sleeping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short. I think this may actually be the shortest thing I've ever written >.>;
> 
> It's been fun writing this week! I think I'm finding my groove with writing LilJo, so I may write more of it in the future. Look forward to it :D

“Good night.”

“Night.”

Jojo settled down and closed her eyes, concentrating on relaxing and making as little noise as possible. Beside her, Lil slowly relaxed, breathing deepening and evening out. Cracking one eye open, Jojo watched as her girlfriend fell asleep. It was incredibly easy to tell when Lil had finally gone to sleep--her face went slack, mouth slightly open, eyes still behind the lids.

When Lil was out, Jojo sat up. The action didn’t move the blankets, didn’t disturb the precariously balanced pillow on the edge of the mattress. Jojo hadn’t slept since she died, but, for Lil’s benefit, she could pretend to be human for an hour a night. Lil said that the warmth helped her relax, but Jojo had the sneaking suspicion that she just liked having someone next to her in bed, even if that someone didn’t make a dent in the sheets.

Cleo crept into the room as Jojo floated over Lil’s sleeping form, getting ready to leave for the night. The cat paused, eyes flashing in the darkness, then hopped up onto Lil’s bed, knocking the pillow onto the floor. Jojo rolled her eyes, then whispered, “Damn cat.”

Cleo just yawned in response.

Ignoring Cleo, Jojo stooped and planted a soft kiss on Lil’s cheek. Her dead heart skipped a beat when Lil took a sharp breath, fearful that she had woken her up. But Lil just dug herself further underneath the blankets, sighed, and was quiet again. Jojo released a noiseless breath of relief. 

She brushed her fingers along Lil’s cheek, brushing a few strands of hair back behind her ear. Another peck, one last glare at the cat, and Jojo was phasing through the window into the cold, still night. 

In the morning, she thought, maybe she’d wake Lil up with kisses--on her forehead, her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks. Her lips. Especially her lips. 

Kisses to sleep, kisses to wake. Not a bad plan.


End file.
